Bongo
Tragelaphus eurycerus (Ogilby, 1837)
The bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus) is a mammal in the family Bovidae, subfamily Bovinae and tribe Tragelaphini, within the order Artiodactyla. It is a giant, terrestrial, diurnal herbivore with an adult body mass of 329 kg.
Quick facts about the bongo
The bongo has 1 young per litter after a gestation period of 288 days, and reaches sexual maturity at 2.4 years. The IUCN Red List classifies the bongo as Near Threatened, which is not a threatened category, and its lifespan is given as 19.42 years, with values up to 21.9 years reported.
- Weight
- 271 kg – 329 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 19.4 years – 21.9 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 288 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 2.33 years – 2.5 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 0.715src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the bongo
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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1 more photo exists under a licence we cannot display: view at source.
Where does the bongo live?
Not recorded
What is the bongo?
The bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus) is a large, mostly nocturnal, forest-dwelling antelope, native to sub-Saharan Africa. Bongos are characterised by a striking reddish-brown coat, black-and-white markings, white-yellow stripes, and long, slightly spiraled horns. Bongos have complex social interactions and are found in African dense forest mosaics. They are the third-largest antelope in the world.
In 2000, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in the US upgraded the bongo to a Species Survival Plan participant and in 2006 added the Bongo Restoration to Mount Kenya Project to its list of the Top Ten Wildlife Conservation Success Stories of the year. As of 2013, these successes have been compromised by reports of possibly only 100 mountain bongos left in the wild due to logging and poaching.
From the Wikipedia article “Bongo (antelope)” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bongo_%28antelope%29&oldid=1378219928), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the bongo endangered?
The bongo is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species.
How is the bongo classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderArtiodactyla
- familyBovidae
- genusTragelaphus
- SpeciesTragelaphus eurycerus (Ogilby, 1837)
Synonyms Antilope eurycerus
Other names and names in other languages (9)
- BoselandAfrikaans
- بونغوArabic
- bonguAsturian
- bongóHungarian
- ボンゴJapanese
- 봉고Korean
- Bongo leśnePolish
- БонгоUkrainian
- 紫羚Chinese
Relatives of the bongo
Other species in the same genus Tragelaphus.
Sitatunga
Tragelaphus spekii
Kéwel
Tragelaphus scriptus
Gedemsa
Tragelaphus buxtoni
Cape Bushbuck
Tragelaphus sylvaticus
Ethiopian Highlands Bushbuck
Tragelaphus meneliki
Chobe Bushbuck
Tragelaphus ornatus
CompareBongo vs SitatungaBongo vs KéwelBongo vs GedemsaBongo vs Cape Bushbuck
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is a bongo?
The bongo is a mammal in the family Bovidae and the order Artiodactyla. It belongs to the subfamily Bovinae and the tribe Tragelaphini.
How heavy is a bongo?
An adult bongo has a body mass of 329 kg, which places it in the giant size class (adult body mass over 250 kg).
What does a bongo eat?
The bongo is a herbivore. It is a terrestrial animal that is active by day.
Is the bongo endangered?
No. The bongo is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, which is not an IUCN threatened category.
How long does a bongo live?
The bongo's lifespan is given as 19.42 years, with values up to 21.9 years reported by sources.
How many young does a bongo have?
A bongo has 1 young per litter, after a gestation period of 288 days.
When does a bongo reach sexual maturity?
A bongo reaches sexual maturity at 2.4 years, with reported values from 2.3 to 2.5 years.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/bongo
“Bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/bongo.
@misc{bongo_2026,
title = {Bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/bongo},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}